Trailing by a seemingly insurmountable margin to St. Frances Academy of Maryland in the second half of the Nevada Union Tournament in Grass Valley, Knight benched his seniors and put in a group of lightly tested underclassmen.

Knight's eyes lit up when his squad of all freshmen and sophomores rallied the Tigers back to within a few baskets late in the game. In a move Knight later said was a mistake, he put his seniors back in. Fremont lost its momentum, and the game.

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"I have loyalty to my seniors, but I dream about (ex-Michigan coach) Steve Fisher," said Knight, recalling how Fisher took an all-freshman starting five to the NCAA national championship game in 1992. "Really, I'm not worried about this year. We have the best sophomore class in California. It's the next two years that concern me."

With such an outstanding sophomore class, OAL coaches, including Knight, are very much concerned about developing that young talent, which will go a long way toward determining this year's champion.

For now, Castlemont, which came within six points of claiming the NorCal championship a year ago, appears to be the favorite.

Two-time defending league champ McClymonds lost a host of top players to transfer and graduation but still streaked to a 5-0 start. The Warriors then lost six in a row, the first time that had happened in Dwight Nathaniel's 14-year tenure. But with super-soph Frank Otis (6-5) and Terrance Wilder (6-4) in the middle, McClymonds will be a contender.

Skyline is off to the best start at 12-2 under new coach Terrance Ransom. The Titans have the league's best shooter and probable MVP in guard Robert Owens. Devanae Leach (6-4) is a nice complement but the Titans, who played a soft preseason schedule according to some of the OAL coaches, have faded down the stretch the past few years.

Fremont is the wild card. It now has three starting sophomores -- James Albright (6-6), McClymonds transfer Gabe Kindred (6-0) and Sergio Ruiz (6-3) -- and freshman point guard Chris James, who averaged 17.5 points in the Yuba City Tournament.